Two Indiana House Republicans lost races last night because of their opposition to the ban, the Indy Star reports:

Two Republican House members — Kathy Heuer (pictured), Columbia City, and Rebecca Kubacki, Syracuse — were defeated by wide margins by Christopher Judy and Curt Nisly, respectively. The incumbents were targeted by social conservative groups after voting against a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.

At the same time, conservative groups helped Rep. Eric Turner, the marriage amendment's author, turn back a primary challenge amid an ethics controversy. The Cicero Republican defeated political newcomer Parvin Gillim, an opponent of the gay marriage ban and former president of the Sheridan Chamber of Commerce.

"The overall message is that if you oppose marriage in Indiana, you take huge political risks," said Curt Smith, president of Indiana Family Action. "If you want to thumb your nose at the pro-family groups, you do so at your own risk."

Comments

Indianastan is full of the fundie hate. The force of stupid is strong there.

Posted by: jonnathewoodswoman | May 7, 2014 8:11:48 AM

Who cares.

The USA is not a democracy in any real sense so it's entirely irrelevant who wins elections.

Whether or not gay people can get married has no bearing on the fact that our government represents corporations and the mega-rich and no-one else.

Marriage equality and abortion and immigration are wedge issues to trick people into thinking there is a difference between the Democrats or Republicans. The realist is that both parties hate America and are only interested in their corporate paymasters.

Voting is a waste of time.

Direct action is better.

Posted by: MaryM | May 7, 2014 8:16:38 AM

Sit down, MaryM. Your opinion is garbage.

Posted by: Mikey | May 7, 2014 8:30:20 AM

No, the message is not that if you thumb your nose at marriage, you lose in Indiana. The message is that Indiana is a breeding ground for Rethug bigots. It is that simple.

Posted by: jmartindale | May 7, 2014 8:52:15 AM

How is voting against a marriage ban "opposing marriage"?

Posted by: Clayton | May 7, 2014 9:01:09 AM

The real message is that the Republican Party is the party of hatred and bigotry -- each step forward is followed by several steps back. There's no changing them. Ever.

Posted by: Roscoe | May 7, 2014 9:02:17 AM

Yah they got a lot of stupid in Indiana. It's the Mississippi of the Midwest.

Posted by: Daniel Berry, NYC | May 7, 2014 9:22:13 AM

Yup, that's my home state turning ever redder and redder.

It's not going to matter. Eventually the Fed will decide this issue and then the Indiana Taliban/Republican party can suck it.

Posted by: Johnny | May 7, 2014 9:25:30 AM

Yes, failing to support anti-marriage bill has ramifications -- in a Republican primary. I am all for that. It will make it easier for a Democrat to take the seat.

Posted by: TC | May 7, 2014 10:29:01 AM

it'll be interesting to see how these "social conservatives" do in the general, seeing as they've only won their own party's vote in the primary.

Posted by: alguien | May 7, 2014 10:55:58 AM

@Daniel

That's West Virginia actually. Indiana is racing them to the bottom though.

Posted by: Sam | May 7, 2014 11:02:43 AM

Indiana is the new Idaho

Posted by: Sean | May 7, 2014 2:36:58 PM

So between:
1) evolve and adapt
and
2) die
the GOP has chosen the latter.

Posted by: TheSeer | May 7, 2014 2:41:16 PM

I am 66 years old and during my entire lifetime I have never known, or even thought about Indiana as anything but one of the most hateful and nasty states in the Union. I would never visit there, let alone ever live there. They routinely reinforce my poor opinion of the state and its people.

As for Republicans, I may be accused of painting with a broad brush, but to me they're all reprehensible creatures. I have none as friends, nor do I want any. We have little if any common ground. I prefer not to associate with fascists and that's what the GOP has become, a vipers pit of fascist bigots or low intelligence "useful idiots".

Posted by: Bob R | May 7, 2014 4:15:51 PM

If you read the linked news article you get a different picture. The Tea Bagger reactionaries targeted several incumbents. Two lost; the others won. That's not exactly a sweeping victory. The representatives were targeted for a variety of reasons--including (get this) supporting legislation that makes day care homes safer. Who knew that Tea Baggers oppose safe day care? The real upshot is that in the Republican Party some candidates who support marriage equality will prosper and some will not. Which of course means that the party is now split on the issue and that's not good news for the conservatives, not good news at all.

Posted by: Jim | May 7, 2014 7:12:54 PM

Wow. You Indiana haters are as bad as those who voted these officials out of office. As an Indianapolis resident who worked HARD to help defeat HJR-3 (the anti-marriage amendment) I am proud of the thousands of people (including myself) and what we accomplished. Today, Indiana does NOT have a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, thanks to us "stupid," "hateful," "vile" Hoosiers who live here - how many of you could say that just a few short years ago? We would greatly appreciate support, not insults, from our gay brothers and sisters around the country. Get it together, gay "community."

Posted by: Bill | May 7, 2014 7:58:15 PM

@Jim. Thanks Jim - that's what I figured. Incomplete reporting. When I first heard about this, I wondered how many voted against the ban BUT still were reelected. That should be many more than 2 since it's was quite a few that didn't vote for the ban. Remember the Indiana legislature is Republican heavy.

Posted by: Tim | May 7, 2014 10:53:33 PM

Reading through these comments if I were to define democrats and liberals who posted here in just a couple sentences I would say:So full of ire they prefer to bash those with opposing opinions rather than discuss them even to the point they wish they were dead.Plain ruthless and very much like hitler in that they think they have the inside scoop on whats best for everyone and those who disagree are sub human and need to die.